


Right Here

by hellosterek



Series: HelloSterek's Summer One Shot Challenge [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Character Death, HelloSterek's Summer Oneshot Challenge, I repeat. Major Character DEATH., M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 16:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1786348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellosterek/pseuds/hellosterek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles gets shot by a werewolf hunter, Derek doesn't take it so well.</p><p>Or that time that evil anon requested a really painful prompt that made me cry while I was writing it.</p><p>I feel the need to repeat the tags...there is MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH in this. You have been warned (various times).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right Here

[**HelloSterek's Summer OneShot Challenge** ](http://hellosterek.tumblr.com/post/87511241651/hellostereks-summer-one-shot-challenge-requests-are)

_                    When you go through the valley and shadow comes down from the hill; if morning never comes to be, be still, be still, be still. _ ** -Be Still, The Fray **

“Derek!”

Derek hears Stiles’s panicked scream and turns to see Stiles go to the ground. Derek frowns, calling out his name before turning to smash two of the hunters’ heads together. The two men fall to the ground in a heap and Derek rushes to Stiles to survey the damage. He lands on his knees at Stiles’s side and looks over him, the metallic scent of blood sharp to his nose. His eyes zero in on Stiles’s stomach and he tears the shirt away, hissing as he moves to cover the wound with his hands. His eyes glow gold for a moment and a low growl works its way up his throat. The bullet was laced with wolfsbane, which won’t harm Stiles, but the broken pieces of the bullet that are lodged in Stiles’s ribs will.

“Derek, we won’t be able to get him to the hospital in time,” Scott says frantically, dropping down beside him. His face is furry and his teeth elongated.

“He’s going to need the bite,” Peter offers quietly, watching on in fascination and wonder.

Scott’s eyes grow wide and he looks to Derek imploringly.

Derek shakes his head firmly, his hands shaking as he grabs a hold of Stiles’s arm, which is shaking underneath his touch. “You can’t. Not with the wolfsbane in his system. It’ll kill you.”

Derek can feel his heart tearing in his chest as he moves to press his palms back to the wound, grunting and bearing his teeth against the pain.

Stiles palms at his wrists weakly, shaking his head. His face is pale and his voice is weak as he says, “Don’t you dare.”

Derek thinks he’s addressing Scott, but when he looks at the boy, he’s looking at Derek. Derek raises his eyebrow and removes his hands, nudging Scott away from him. “Scott, get the car! Now!”

“We’ll never make it!” Scott says helplessly, his eyes glossed over with tears.

“We have to try!” Derek grits, shoving Scott in the direction of the car. When Scott scrambles away, Derek takes Stiles’s hand with trembling fingers, his eyebrows pulled together in pain as his chest clenches uncomfortably.

“Stiles, don’t you dare.” He repeats the boy’s words back to him, his jaw tensing.

“Derek-”

“Don’t,” Derek hisses, cutting Stiles off.

Stiles settles back down on the pavement, his chest heaving and his breath leaving him in shallow bursts as his lungs fight to make room for air as they fill up with blood. He swallows thickly, looking toward the sky for a moment. “Der-”

“Stiles,” Derek grits out, but it’s broken and has lost some of its heat. He can’t do this, not with Stiles. They can’t lose Stiles - he can’t lose him. Stiles is the only human left of their pack. They were supposed to be protecting him.

Stiles’s eyes move to meet his gaze and Derek feels like the wind has been knocked out of him when he sees the tears welling up in the teen’s eyes and the way his face seems to be swelling up, bruising a stark shade of red as he struggles to breathe. Derek’s hand tightens around Stiles’s as Stiles’s grip loosens.

“Stiles, please,” Derek whimpers, but he doesn’t quite know what he’s asking for. To hang on even though he knows they’re not going to make it in time? To not leave him when he was supposed to be the one protecting the teen? To stay for just a little bit longer even though the pain Stiles is in is palpable? He grabs the back of Stiles’s head with his free hand and stares down at him. “Don’t stop fighting. Stiles, you’ve been so strong. You’ve survived so much. Please survive this.”

There’s a stuttering of breath before Stiles is able to talk, but all he can manage is a pained, “Derek.”

Derek closes his eyes and hauls the boy into his lap, cradling his head in his arms. He presses his lips to Stiles’s forehead, hands gripping at Stiles’s shirt. “Damn it!” he growls, glaring up at Peter as he stands there, watching on. “Where the hell is Scott?”

Peter rolls his eyes, but takes the hint and goes after the young alpha. Derek merely whimpers and hugs Stiles’s closer. “Please don’t leave me.”

Stiles’s hand rests weakly over Derek’s arm, his blunt nails scraping weakly against the skin as he tries to hold on. Derek hides his face in Stiles’s hair, breathing in his scent which is so heavy with fear, with shame, with  _pain_. He wants it all to go away. He locks his jaw and wraps a hand around Stiles’s, squeezing tightly as he relieves the boy of as much of the pain as he can handle. Derek growls and breathes heavily, trying to withstand the pain. As long as Stiles is in pain and Derek can still take it from him, he knows there’s some hope. When the pain starts to fade, he tightens his grip and shakes his head.

“Stiles,” he grits, turning the boy around so he can look at his face. Stiles is blinking dazedly, his eyes glassy and his breath coming out harsher. Blood has begun to dribble from his mouth and Derek sits him up, lets it drip down his chin. “Damn it, Stiles! Don’t do this!”

“Der-” Stiles coughs and sputters when he tries to speak, the blood coating Derek’s knuckles. “I lo-”

“Stiles?” Derek moves to look at him and Stiles gazes at him, goes cross-eyed and manages to put a shaky hand to Derek’s face. Derek closes his eyes and leans into it, scratching his stubble along the soft skin.

“Love you,” Stiles breathes, his fingers curling slightly against Derek’s cheek. “Sourwolf.” He sucks in a sharp breath and says quietly, “Don’t be miserable.”

“Stiles!” Derek panics as Stiles’s eyes begin to close and he taps at Stiles’s cheek helplessly. “Stiles, _please_! Don’t! I love you! Do you hear me?”

He’s yelling now, but all that he’s aware of is the boy in front of him. The boy who gave his all to protect Derek and the pack. The boy who ran with wolves and always seemed to somehow _survive_. The boy who had become Derek’s anchor and the boy Derek fell in love with. He feels a knot form in his throat as the tears threaten to come. “ _Stiles_ , I love you! Please!”

Air leaves Stiles’s mouth quickly, the words “love you” on his breath, and Derek can feel his entire body trembling. He can feel himself unraveling as the body in his arms goes limp and the heartbeat gives one last stutter before going silent. It's suddenly too quiet and it’s like Derek can’t hold back anymore. He hunches over Stiles’s body as if protecting him, clutching tightly at his ripped shirt and resting his forehead against Stiles’s chest, where there should be a steady thump.

For a long time, it feels like he can’t breathe, like he’s nevergoingto breathe again. But his lungs kick in after a moment and all he can manage to do is gasp for air, coughing out dangerous sobs that tear at his throat as every piece of him unravels and tears. He’s lost the one thing that he had left and he feels stupid to think that he could actually keep it. That he could ever love something so much and not have it stolen from him. Everything he touches dies.

“I’m so sorry,” he rambles, rocking on his knees, his shoulders shaking. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

By the time Peter and Scott come rushing back with the car, Derek has laid himself beside Stiles on the ground, staring at nothing. There’s nothing left for him now, nothing worth fighting for. Stiles was the last thing that kept him human, that kept him tethered to the earth and the life he led. Now, he’s got nothing left. Nothing but a broken heart, a broken pack, and a broken town. Once again, he finds himself believing that he’d be better off dead. At least then, he’d be with Stiles.

 _                 Oh, lover, I know you’re there and I’d follow you anywhere. Oh, give me a hand to hold so that I may face the cold. ‘Cause it rings in the day and it rings in the evening. Oh, I could pray, but it won’t stop you leaving. Shadow in black, you are grim from your reaping. Oh, can’t you spare just a day for the weeping? _ ** -Funeral Bell, Phildel **


End file.
